# New Miller Beer



## clampdown (Feb 7, 2006)

Sounds interesting, article below
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15376753/

MILWAUKEE - From chocolate to pumpkin, the nation's top brewers are venturing where craft brewers have experimented for years - flavored brews - even if it's only for a few months at a time.

Miller Brewing Co., the country's second-largest brewer, recently announced it would sell a holiday-themed beer made with real cacao named after its founder. Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager will sell in six Midwestern markets through the end of the year.

"Over the holidays are a good time to bring out a chocolate beer because it's the time when people are indulging and going to parties," said Pete Marino, a spokesman for the Milwaukee-based brewer.

This season, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the country's largest brewer, is rolling out a chocolate beer for its Michelob Celebrate line, which was introduced last year with a vanilla oak flavor. It also has a line of pumpkin ale for the fall and vanilla-flavored bourbon ale for the winter, which will be released for the first time this season in bottles.

Experimenting with flavors and seasonal beers makes sense for big brewers because manufacturers are looking to rejuvenate the alcohol category, recently dominated by wine and spirits, said Felicia McClain, an analyst with Mintel Research.

"They're trying to do something to bring some spice back into beer," she said.

Brewers like Miller and Anheuser-Busch are showing that they can take part in the ever-popular craft beer market, too, said Eric Shephard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, a trade publication based in Nanuet, N.Y. Sales of domestic brews have been flat, while sales of craft beers and imports have carried the market, he said, both up about 11 percent in the first half of this year.

"From every point of view, experimenting with new flavors and styles is pretty much what you have to do right now," he said. "It would be much more surprising if they didn't."

Anheuser-Busch, based in St. Louis, is now making its 2-year-old seasonal line available in bottles at stores this year, no longer only in draft, said Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation. The products, which also include Spring Heat Spiced Wheat and Beach Bum Blonde Ale, carry the Anheuser-Busch marking on the label, but they are marketed through word of mouth and in store promotions as craft beers, he said.

"Consumers have a broader drinker's set today and are looking for different options and different products," McGauley said. "We know they're going to be looking around and we're going to provide beers and products that really satisfy those needs."

Miller's chocolate brew comes in 4-packs sold in a deep brown case. It will be sold through the end of the year in six core Miller markets: Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Valparaiso, Ind., and throughout Wisconsin. It was offered last summer on tap at brewery tours and proved successful, Marino said.

Last year's seasonal brew - 1885 Celebration Lager, which marked the company's 150th anniversary - was not flavored but was distributed on a larger scale.

According to Mintel Research, the top selling flavor last year was regular, but second was pumpkin, which brewers such as Coors Brewing Co.'s popular Blue Moon label roll out in the fall harvest season. Rounding out the top five? Honey, vanilla and nut, respectively.

The past five years have brought an increase of flavors like ginger, apple and blueberry, primarily on the craft level, McClain said.

Craft brewer Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. introduced the summer seasonal Berry Weiss 10 years ago and just this summer announced the fruity brew would be available year-round. Fans of the beer often stockpiled it as fall neared, or switched to flavored spirits or wine, so the company decided to make it year-round, said Dick Leinenkugel, vice president of sales and marketing for the Chippewa Falls, Wis.-based brewer, which is owned by Miller.

Craft brewers welcome the presence of bigger brewers into the flavored beer market, a move that could help the entire segment, he said.

"We're in a battle for share of stomach and it's not just brewer against brewer," Leinenkugel said. "Consumers have a lot of other choices: flavored martinis, flavored cocktails, flavored malt beverages. We have to be innovative."

Brewing smaller batches of niche products also might help big brewers gain credibility with craft brew fans, Shephard said.

Microbrew aficionado Daniel Schulze was surprised to learn the chocolate beer he tasted at a local store in Milwaukee was a Miller product.

The 24-year-old said he was impressed that the chocolate wasn't overpowering and the drink was crisp and creamy, which he said was good for the cold winter season.

"I could see how this would be nice by a fire," Schulze said.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

i've had a couple different chocolate stouts and porters before, but i'm wondering about a chocolate lager. The only thing I can think of is a heavier bock style.


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## TU09 (Mar 26, 2006)

I would be interested in trying it if I could find it locally. Some of the big brewers do come out with something approaching beer when they limit production and make a real effort, I'm still a little skeptical though.


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## sgresso (Feb 24, 2006)

I will have to see if I can get some.


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## sgresso (Feb 24, 2006)

If I find any I will let ya know,
who know maybe I can get some to you guys where its not available.


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## rumballs (Mar 15, 2005)

so they take a flavorless beer, and add a non-beer flavor?


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## burninator (Jul 11, 2006)

If by "interesting" you mean "gross", then this might be the most interesting Miller beer yet.


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## Twill413 (Jul 19, 2006)

I had a beer that was flavored with chocolate in my winter brews sampler, but can't offhand recall the name. Tasted like chocolate covered cherries. Interesting, but I wouldn't drink it all the time. Not as bad as you may think.


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## Cigar Jockey (Feb 12, 2006)

Rogue Dbl Chocolate Stout :dr :dr :dr


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## clampdown (Feb 7, 2006)

Cigar Jockey said:


> Rogue Dbl Chocolate Stout :dr :dr :dr


I havent had that one, I did enjoy the Young's Double Chocolate. Shenandoah makes a great Chocolate Donut Stout, and believe it or not, it does taste like a Chocolate Donut.


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## Cigar Jockey (Feb 12, 2006)

imo Rouge is better then young's :dr


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

The real issue here, IMHO, is in fact, is Miller truly a "Beer"? If your looking for serious beer, start with Samuel Adams, pretty dam good, and then work your way up into the real world of beer!

I am not big on flavored beer, of any kind, but if you must, there are none better than:

Founder's Chocolate Stout
Rouge Chololate Stout
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Lost Coast Chocolate Stout

Johnny


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

JohnnyFlake said:


> The real issue here, IMHO, is in fact, is Miller truly a "Beer"? If your looking for serious beer, start with Samuel Adams, pretty dam good, and then work your way up into the real world of beer!


I'm not trying to defend the big boys (BMC) by any means but you must admit it is a market driven industry and they must make what the market desires or is convinced to drink by $1,000,000 ad campains. I'm sure there are amazing beer that come out of their R&D departments after all the goal of any brewer is to make sperbe beer, but due to cost of production and market size these products arn't massed produced. Think of all the crazy designs and technology that goes into a concept car and how much of that actually makes it to production. I'm glad to see the big guys go put on a limb here and put something on the market that will not be desireable to everyone.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Commander Quan said:


> I'm not trying to defend the big boys (BMC) by any means but you must admit it is a market driven industry and they must make what the market desires or is convinced to drink by $1,000,000 ad campains. I'm sure there are amazing beer that come out of their R&D departments after all the goal of any brewer is to make sperbe beer, but due to cost of production and market size these products arn't massed produced. Think of all the crazy designs and technology that goes into a concept car and how much of that actually makes it to production. I'm glad to see the big guys go put on a limb here and put something on the market that will not be desireable to everyone.


You make a valid point! However, in comparison, the cost of a concept car is a whole lot different than the cost of a high quality beer, which is between $1 and $2 a bottle, on average, at a liquor store. Of course there are many quality beers that sell in the $6 to $10 range, per bottle, usually for a 750ml size bottle and a few that go even higher. In any case they are affordable to the average working man. For the person who wants to drink six, twelve or more bottles/cans of beer, or even more in a single sitting, I doubt that it makes much difference. However, for those that simply want to drink a couple of beers and truly enjoy and savor the fine complexities of a high quality beer, why not buy the best you can afford?

The quality beers that use to be hard to find, are not so hard to find any more. Yes, there are local area brewries, where the beers can only be purchased locally, but more often than not, many, many of the great beers are now available at most large liquor outlets. Go to any large B&M and you, most likely, will find 50/100 and more, high quality beers on the shelves.

You can certainly find Sam Adams, almost anywhere and they brew about 16 or 17 different style beers. Start with them and then work your way up!

Remember, life is far too short to drink cheap Beer, cheap Booze and smoke cheap Cigars!!!

Johnny


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

So did anyone actually find and try this beer? I looked for it for a couple weeks and gave up.


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## Leeboob (Apr 2, 2006)

nope, i just drop a hershey kiss in my bud for a little somethin' extra.


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## ky toker (Jun 2, 2005)

mmblz said:


> so they take a flavorless beer, and add a non-beer flavor?


:r Hey man, why don't we go bet a few beers that taste like..ummm... tastes like beer.

I can understand the choc stouts and ports, but when I drink a beer I want to drink a beer. If I want pumkin, orange, cherry or 7 year old vanilla I'll buy a freakin' slurpee. If you have to cover up the beer taste, then maybe you don't actually like beer.


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## (909) (Jul 27, 2004)

ky toker said:


> :r Hey man, why don't we go bet a few beers that taste like..ummm... tastes like beer.
> 
> I can understand the choc stouts and ports, but when I drink a beer I want to drink a beer. If I want pumkin, orange, cherry or 7 year old vanilla I'll buy a freakin' slurpee. If you have to cover up the beer taste, then maybe you don't actually like beer.


I Agree 100%

The only thing that I want my beer to taste like is beer. If you need to add flavor to your beer then maybe you should quit drinking that fizzy yellow stuff and try something new.

Here's a couple to get you going:

Stone Ruination IPA

Arrogant Bastard Ale


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## MikeP (Jan 12, 2006)

Commander Quan said:


> So did anyone actually find and try this beer? I looked for it for a couple weeks and gave up.


I had a friend bring over a six pack of beers he had in his 'beer fridge' and one of them was this chocolate beer from Miller. I think he was just trying to get rid of this particular bottle. It certainly isn't the style of brew that I prefer but it was "beer" and it was in my fridge so I figured I had to drink it. The only really positive thing I can say about it is that it actually had more flavor than anything else Miller brews. The chocolate wasn't overpowering - it was okay. As I said, not my thing. I've had pumpkin flavored beers - never purchased intentionally but maybe through a beer club or something. Again the flavors and spices are subtle and it is drinkable just not my thing. Locally, I love a good old world styled Sprecher beer. I have come to appreciate the microbreweries where quality is what matters, not quantity.


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## NCatron (Sep 7, 2005)

This stuff is FOUL.

If you want the experience for free, take a flavorless beer and add Hershey's chocolate syrup. A lot of it.

Ugh.  I was expecting a choclate-malt flavor, a-la certain stouts. But I got this. :c


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## Bleedingshrimp (Dec 6, 2006)

My favorite "chocolate" beer is Rogue Chocolate Stout....really killer stuff. As far as chocolate lagers...no I'm okay I think. Not big on "flavored" beers with very few exceptions. I like a few seasonal brews if they are done well. Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin is one that's done very well in my opinion.


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